While we — along with a lot of other people — thought it was incredibly brave of him to open up about something so horrible, the 36-year-old confessed in an interview released on Tuesday that not everyone was as supportive, explaining:

“The sad thing is ├óΓé¼┬ª even I started getting judged when that story came out. They’re like, ‘Well, if he was bein’ honest…’ I’m like, ‘Really, I’m just gonna lie about that?'”

After facing backlash for his admission, the former boy band member says he understands why women have a difficult time speaking out after they’ve been sexually assaulted:

“So I can see how women are scared to come forward because of people not believing them, but you can’t be worried about that. You have to be upfront, honest about it so we can just stop what’s going on.”

And although he’s really encouraging victims to be courageous when it comes to reporting attacks or unwanted advancements, the SiriusXM radio host also clarifies why it took him a while before publicly saying anything about his own experience:

“Looking back, I probably wouldn’t have done anything differently. To me, I didn’t feel violated at the time, so I didn’t really think too much of it.”

However, Lance comments that this doesn’t mean he completely kept it to himself:

“Plus, I also told people about it, so it wasn’t anything that I kept inside. I mean, I had my four best friends with me, so we would talk about it, so I didn’t feel like I needed to get it out at that time.”

Well, we’re glad he eventually felt comfortable enough to share his story with the world. And we hope his account shows other victims that they aren’t alone, and have plenty of people who will support them.